A Beautiful Lie
by stevenrogers
Summary: A select group of agents of SHIELD have been given a mission for phase 2 of their newest operation; find the Hulk. Agent Rodriguez was specifically chosen to go into the field this time. Story begins in India and moves on along through my OC's POV :) RATED T FOR NOW. Some strong language. Bruce/OC.


A select group of agents of SHIELD have been given a mission for phase 2 of their newest operation; find the Hulk. Agent Rodriguez was specifically chosen to go into the field this time. Story begins in India and moves on along through my OC's POV :)

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In the last four months, the city has revealed itself to me slowly, opening one sleepy eye at a time. Calcutta today is as parochial as it is modern. It lives in the past as much as it lets its past decay. India's first global city, it is littered with the remains of many worlds: the rickshaws that the Chinese brought; an Armenian cemetery; dollops of jazz left by Americans in the war years.

It is as much a walker's city as a talker's; It has great eavesdropping potential, even if you understand only English, and it is perfectly acceptable to start up a conversation with strangers, whether about the rain or Shakespeare.

Best of all, in Calcutta, you can eat the world. The royal chefs who decamped here from the Mughal court of north India brought a cardamom-laced mutton rezala stew. The British Raj offered a canapé of cheese and pineapple. From Baghdad, David Nahoum's Jewish forefathers brought the cheese-filled sambusa to Calcutta's New Market.

But I'm not here to get friendly or for the food.

I'm here for one reason, and one reason only: find the doctor.

I had been working for shield for about two years now. It wasn't by choice, trust me. Somehow some way, they found out I was an empath (at least that's what they called it.) I could feel emotions rolling off of other people and with a touch I could absorb them. They found my… _special power_ useful and recruited me. They had something big in mind with me I guess and I found that out not too long afterwards.

I went through a series of basic training, a few missions with older agents, passing level by level and finally I was given a thick manila folder with the words 'CONFIDENTIAL' stamped on the front in red.

For my first official mission, I was going to find the Hulk.

I'd been in and out of the city for about two months now since I wasn't finding much of anything. It was so hot some days. I had to sweat it out though, literally. I was a woman on a mission. I had a duty to fulfill and I was going to get it done like it was the last thing I'd ever do. I couldn't screw up or I'd have a fuming director on my ass in no time.

I had heard over and over about a good doctor in the more poor part of the city who helped many people. Getting over sickness, treating them with cures, etc.

I knew I was closing in on him and that I would find him in no time. I had a plan and I was setting it into motion. I got to know many of the people here, helped out some missionaries to make myself useful while I was around, and took on a little job taking care of children throughout the day while parents left to go into the city to work all the hours they could to come back home and put food on the table. They lived day by day here and it was painful to see.

I luckily had SHIELD to thank for sending me money so I had no problems.

After a good long day of playing with some of the children, getting down and dirty, it was nearing the evening.

I managed to make sure all the kids had gotten home safely. When I knew I was in the clear to go back home (which was a small room with a bathroom on top of a flower shop) I searched through one of my bags and found a sharp box cutter.

This was going to hurt like hell. (A/N: I'm not sure if this is going to be some kind of trigger to anyone reading, but there's just a minor part about cutting the skin. Please don't think too much of it, and remember that if you resort to this, there's always someone out there who can help you. Don't succumb to it. Stay strong lovelies.)

I took in a deep breath and put my left arm out. Bringing the blade close to my forearm, I made sure to poke the skin with the tip, and then in one swift motion, dragged it across. I let out a hiss in pain and dropped the cutter on the ground. Almost instantly, blood started to seep through. I was definitely going to need stitches.

Running outside, I stopped to bend and rub some dirt on my hands, and brought it up to my bleeding arm. I looked up at the dimming sky and sighed, hoping this worked.

About five minutes later, I arrived at the home of one of the little boys I took care of; his dad had been sick just a few weeks ago and was miraculously treated and well within a few days. Sickness and diseases around here usually dragged on.

Knocking on the door rapidly hoping I wasn't disturbing their suppertime, a very pretty woman around my age opened the door. "You are Javaad's mother, yes?" I asked.

"Yes yes. What is it?" she asked in a thick accent.

I instantly sensed her confusion.

"I need help… I need to see the doctor. My arm… it's cut up. I…"

Before I could say anything else, she called out to Javaad. The six year old came running to his mother and instantly smiled when he saw me. "Hello miss Lina."

I understood very little of their language but by her gestures I understood she was telling him to take me to see the doctor. I also sensed how anxious she was and how suddenly confident the boy felt, while taking my hand and pulling me through various streets and alleys.

Finally after what seemed like forever, we made it to a very tall building. Tall for an area like this that is. Javaad dragged me through a few rooms and up some steps. Before he could let me go, I stopped him and bent down to his level. Reaching into my back pocket I felt a wad of what would be five hundred dollars for them, and handed it to him.

"You are to stop nowhere, and speak to no one about this. You give this money to your mother alright?" I whispered into his ear.

I didn't need to be an empath to know exactly how he felt in that moment.

His eyes said it all and he nodded, rushing forward to hug me, "Thank you miss Lina. I hope your arm gets better."

With a nod, I let him out and stood, tensing a moment. I could feel everyone's emotions around me. It was overwhelming, as it always was, and I tried to clear my head for a moment. It took a bit to turn it off, sometimes I just couldn't, nothing worked.

I could sense anxiety, and for a moment I wasn't sure if it was myself or not.

Stepping forward, I heard some shuffling coming from the other side of the thick wooden door and I knocked two times. The shuffling stopped and I heard footsteps make their way to the door. It opened and I took a small step back, looking up to see a tall, slightly tanned man with dark curls. His eyes were suddenly wary and he looked me up and down.

"Can I help you?" he asked after a moment.

"Um… A friend of mine brought me here. I have… a problem, you see…" I said and held out my arm, which was feeling slightly numb and itchy.

His eyes widened and he opened the door to let me through.

"Come in, I'm sorry." He said.

I stepped into the room and looked around noticing a few messes here and there and lots of medical equipment around. A small personal bed in one corner, and very dim lighting. There was a table in the middle and he directed me to sit. I did as told and watched him go around and gathering a few things.

"I think it might need stitches to be honest… the bleeding hasn't really stopped and I haven't had the chance to look at it, but… it hurts. Like a bitch. So I'm just assuming…" I said.

Coming over to me quickly he set everything down and took a seat closely in front of me. "I'll check it now."

Carefully cutting the fabric, it loosened up and dropped to the table. My arm was caked with blood and it looked really bad. Looking up at his face, I saw him grimace; he was also slightly worried.

"That's definitely going to need stiches."

"Thought so." I said quietly.

"How'd it happen…?" he asked.

"I take care of some kids in the area while their parents work in the city and well, I just had a little accident. Like most of us do."

Nodding, he poured a clear liquid onto a wipe and dabbed it around the wound, and I felt a drop slide down into the gash and I kicked something under the table.

"Ow…" he said.

"God, I'm sorry that just… hurt." I said between clenched teeth.

"Alcohol…" he murmed.

"That's why it burns…" I said.

"No, I mean… there's a bottle of alcohol. Take a shot or two, it might help while I do this."

Amidst all the medical tools, there was an actual alcohol bottle and a glass set together. Grateful for the liquor, I noticed it was a light brown color. I opened the bottle with my free hand and poured some in the glass that was there. Taking a deep breath before swishing the drink around in the cup, I tipped it on my lips and swallowed. It had been a while since I last had a drink but the taste was familiar; bourbon.

"That's… that's something." I said with a frown.

Looking up, he smiled slightly and nodded.

I held onto the glass for dear life while he wiped away the blood on the cut. It stung like a motherfucker and I could tell he was being as careful as possible for my sake. He hadn't said much while he was working and I took that time to look around the place some more, and take a good look at him as well.

Bruce Banner, thirty-four years old, turns into a raging green monster due to extreme gamma radiation. That's a quick summary from everything I had read on his file. He was a hard man to find; she knew Fury would have a field day.

Which made her think… she was going to have to tell SHIELD she found Banner at one point or another. First, she was going to get to know him. She was pretty curious and now that she had his location, she knew he wasn't going to get lost any time soon.

"So you're a doctor… what brings you here to Calcutta?" I asked.

Wincing as he began to thread with the needle, I looked away.

"Mmm… I wanted a change of scenery."

"Calcutta isn't where many doctors come…" I said.

"I wanted to be on the down low."

I smirked and poured myself another drink. He was definitely on the down low that was for sure. It took a long ass time to find him.

"What about you? I haven't seen you around…" he said.

"I pop in and out of the area every once in a while. I rent a small room and I take care of kids here, I help out missionaries from time to time."

It wasn't a total lie.

"Interesting."

After a few minutes of awkward silence, at least on my part because I had to go through quite a few glasses of bourbon, he spoke up.

"I'm pretty sure you're going to have to be careful next time you're playing with the kids. You don't want to get any dirt around the stitches and try not to let it tug on anything. When you shower, keep your arm out and rinse it on its own. I'm going to give you a some anti-bacterial ointment for it." He said standing up.

I was fairly surprised at how fast he worked. I was impressed. Taking a sneak at my arm, I frowned. There were about ten stitches all nice and even. Standing up, I made my way to where he was, looking through a black bag and he took out a small white tube.

"Here you go."

Taking the tube, I slipped it in my back pocket and smiled.

"Thank you so much. You have no idea how grateful I am. I'm Lina by the way." I said, extending my good arm.

His wariness died down a little and he took my hand, gripping it and giving me a slight shake. I was careful not to let my powers slip through no matter how attracted I was feeling at the moment, not wanting to cause any trouble.

"Bruce." He said with a charming smile.

Later that night, while I sat in bed after a long cold shower, I thought about the doctor. He seemed fairly nice and genuine. If I were any other person I wouldn't have even thought about the fact that somewhere in him there was a raging green monster. Who would have known?

Step one of my mission, crossed off. I had found him; now on to the next one.

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Hello there, I hope this was fairly enjoyable! Next chapter is being written and I'm sorting out the story ideas, but if I get some positive feedback, I'll decide whether I should keep writing it or not :) Hope to hear from any of you!


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